Shipping-case.



No. 733,632, PATENTED JULY 14, 1903 M. S. DOWNEY.

SHIPPING CASE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 29, 1903.

30 MODEL.

rammed July 14, 190? PATENT OFFICE.

MAURICE S. DOWNEY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SHIPPING-CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 733,632, dated Jul 14,1903. Application filed January 29, 1903. Serial No. 141,044, (Nomodel.)

To (tZZ whom it 17mg concern:

Be it known that I, MAURICE S. DowNnY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Shipping-Cases, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in shipping-cases, and refersmore specifically to an improved garment hanger or distender adapted foruse in conjunction with ordinary shipping-cases such as are commonlyemployed in shipping suits and the like.

The salient object of the invention is to provide a skeleton hanger orform which is made of resilient material and serves to hold the garmentwithin which it is placed distended and against shifting around in thecase.

Subordinate objects are to provide a cheap article which will adaptitself to garments of varying form and size, to provide a constructionwhich may be laid out fiat for packing or shipment in quantities, toprovide an article which is equally well adapted for different kinds ofbody-garments-such as coats, shirt-waists, &c.and in general to providea simple and improved device of the character referred to.

To the above ends the invention consists in the matters hereinafterdescribed,and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, andthe same will be more readily understood from the following descriptionby reference to the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure 1 is a planview of a preferred embodiment of my invention laid out in flat form.Fig. 2 shows the device attached within a coat and arranged within anordinary cardboard shipping-box. Fig. 3 is a crosssectional view takenon line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows, thegarment being omitted; and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view takenon line 4 4 of Fig. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows, thegarment being in this instance also omitted.

In the preferred embodiment of my invention illustrated the skeletonform consists of two strips of cardboard 1 and 2, secured together incrossed relation, the shorter strip 2 being arranged at right angles tothe main strip 1 and secured to the latter midway of its length and theend portions 2 and 2 arranged to extend at either side of the mainstrip. The cardboard of which the main strip 1 is constructed should beof a relatively stiif and resilient character, so as to be capable ofbeing bent into the form shown in Fig. 3, wherein the ends are bent backor returned to form open loops 3 without breaking. The transverse member2 may well be of the same material, but is not necessarily maderesilient. One of the end portions thereof, 2", is provided with aplurality of scorelines, as indicated at 4, 5, 6, and 7, defining thepoints at which it is to be bent to form a support or strut. (Best shownin Fig. 4 and designated as a whole by 8.) Preferably the supportB has aflat base portion 9, and most conveniently the free end of the portion 2forming the support is secured bysimply tucking the extreme end 10thereof between the main strip 1 and that portion 11 of the transversestrip which is secured to said main strip, as indicated clearly inFig.4. It is to be understood, however, that the support 8 is notnecessarily of the particular construction shown herein, but may bevariously modified within the scope of the invention. The height of thesupport 8 is made slightly less than the depth of the shipping-casewithin which itis arranged, so that when the base thereof rests upon theback portion of the garment the upper side of the main strip will beheld close enough to the top of the box to hold the front side of thegarment firmly against the cover, and thus aid materially in preventingthe garment from shifting. The main strip 1 and transverse strip 2 mayconveniently be secured together by means of wire s'tap1es, as indicatedat 12.

Describing the use of the device,13 desigonly enough to permit the formor hanger to be placed in position and in such manner that the loopsformed by the returned portions press outwardly against both sides ofthe case and downwardly against the bottom thereof, the garment being ofcourse interposed between the ends and lower sides of the form. Theportion 2 of the device is next bent into shape to form the support 8and its end secured in position as described and as shown in Fig. 4, thebase thereof resting upon the back of the garment and the centralportion of the main strip being thus held in a plane near the plane ofthe top edge of the box. The front portions of the garment are nowbrought together into the position shown in Fig. 2 and the extension .2passed out over the edge ofthe end of the box and bent at right anglesdownwardly,as indicated at 15 in Fig.4 -,after which the cover 16 of thebox is placed in position and secured in any usual manner. The extension2 thus serves to connect the skeleton form to the interior ofthe box insuch manner as to hold it positively against movementlongitudinally ofthe box in either direction, and inasmuch as the loop portions of themain transverse strip are not resilient, bearing with the sides of thebox, movement laterally in either direction is also impossible. Inpractice the main strip 1 is preferably made of such width as toapproximately fit the armholes of the garment, and accordingly whenarranged in the manner described the garment cannot shift upwardlybecause of the engagement of the lower sides of the armholes with theedges of the loops and cannot shift downwardly because the shouldersthereofengage the opposite edges of the skeleton form. The use of theform in connection with other garments is obvious.

It will of course be understood that, if preferred, the skeleton formmay be elaborately shaped to more accurately conform to the interior ofthe garment within which it is to be placed; butin practice the formherein shown perfectly subserves the purpose for which it is intended,and it is obvious that it can be more economically manufactured and morecompactly shipped and stored than -if made to more nearly conform to theshape and interior of the garment. I do not, therefore,

limit myself to the form shown, except to the extent that such form ismade the subject of specific claims.

I claim as my invention- 1. As a new article of manufacture, agarment-holding form comprising a cardboard or analogous blank formedinto a hollow resilient hanger adapted to fit within and hold distendedthe upper part of the body of the garment and provided with means forattaching it to the interior of a shipping-case.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a garment-holding form comprising askeleton hanger formed of a strip of resilient cardboard or analogoussheet material having the ends returned upon themselves to form openresilient .loops, and a transversely-disposed attaching member securedto said main strip and whereby the hanger may be secured in positionwithin a shipping-case.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a garment-holding form comprising amain straplike strip of resilient cardboard, and atransversely-disposedstrip of cardboard secured rigidly to the main strip midway of thelength of the latter.

4. As a new article of manufacture, a garment-holding form comprising amain straplike strip of resilient cardboard, and a transversely-disposedstrip of cardboard secured rigidly to the main strip midway of thelength of the latter and with both its ends projecting beyond the mainstrip, one of said ends being adapted to be formed into a support andthe opposite end adapted to be secured to a shipping-case, as and forthe purpose set forth.

5. As a new article of manufacture, a garment-holding form comprisingthe main strip 1, the transverse strip 2 provided with the scores a, 5and 6, and means securing said strips rigidly together, substantially asdescribed.

6. In combination with a shipping-case, a garment-holding formcomprising a skeleton hanger formed of cardboard and comprising a mainmember adapted to be bent upon itself to form an open flattened loop, asecond member secured rigidly to the main member at right angles to thelatter, one of the ends thereof forming an attaching extension adaptedto be inserted between the meeting portions of the box and box-cover,and the other end thereof adapted to be bent into a support to underliethe central portion of the main strip, substantially as described.

MAURICE S. DOWNEY.

Witnesses:

ALBERT I-I. GRAVES, L. F. McCREA.

